TBBT QUOTE OF THE DAY – FEBRUARY 1

THE MATERNAL CAPACITANCE – Season 2, Episode 15 (February 9, 2009)

(Leonard's mother, Beverly, is standing at the elevator when Penny approaches carrying laundry)
P: It's out of order.
BEVERLY: Yes, I can read the sign I'm just pondering the implications.
P: I think it implies that the elevator doesn't work.
B: Again, I can read the sign. But the sign and the tape are covered with a layer of dust which indicates the elevator for a significant amount of time which suggests either a remarkable passivity among the, I assume, 24 to 36 residents of this building based on the number of mailboxes and given the typical urban population density, or a shared delusion of functionality.
P: (pauses) You must be Leonard's mother.
B: Well, I don't know if I must be but, yes.
P: I'm Penny. I'm his neighbor.
B: Oh, Dr. Beverly Hofstader.
P: (she extends her hand) Oh, nice to meet you.
B: Oh, you're a hand shaker. Interesting. (they shake hands)
P: Ah, why don't you come with my I'll walk you to the apartment.
B: Oh, alright. Would you like to exchange pleasantries on the way?
P: Yeah, sure, I guess. (she starts up the stairs)
B: Alright, you start.

P: OK, you know I've always been curious, what was Leonard like when he was little?
B: Oh, I think you mean young, he's always been little.
P: Right, what was he like when he was young?
B: You'll have to be more specific.
P: Oh, um, OK, like 5 or 6?
(Beverly stops and stares at her)

P: (pauses) Five. 
(they continue up the stairs)
B: Well, at that age he was enmeshed in what Freud would call the phallic stage of psycho-sexual development. An outmoded theory of course but the boy did spend most of his waking hours with a tight grasp on his penis.
P: Yeah, Leonard mentioned you were a psychiatrist.
B: Well, that is one of my degrees. My primary field is neuroscience.
(they stop)
P: Well, I'm an actress.
(Beverly stares at her)

B: Why?
P: What do you mean, why?
B: There are studies that suggest that many who go into the performing arts suffer  from an external locus of identity.
P: (pondering) Yeah, I don't know what that means.
B: Well, it means you value yourself only as others value you which is often the result of unmatched childhood emotional needs.
P: Well, I had a wonderful childhood.
B: Tell me about it.
(cut to Penny walking up the stairs crying) 

P: I know my dad wanted a boy... I, I, I tried being good at sports but I hated getting dirty.
B: Then I'm assuming you entered adolescense.
(they stop in from of Leonard's apartment)
P: (still crying) He called me "slugger" until I got my first training bra and then he just stopped playing catch with me. (pause) I wasn't "slugger" any more.
(Penny knocks on the door. Leonard answers)

P: (crying) You mother's here. (she goes to her apartment)
B: (watching Penny go, to Leonard) If you want to have intercourse with that girl find out what cologne her father wore. (she walks in)
L: (he picks up her suitcase) Good to see you, Mother.


All images from The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Second Season DVD